Under the guise of aquaculture, a transnational crime syndicate rented remote forest land near a cemetery in Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa) for VND 100 million/year (approx. USD 4,000) to build one of Vietnam’s largest-ever ketamine drug labs - producing 1.4 tons of narcotics.

On April 1, VietNamNet sources confirmed that local authorities in Nha Trang had identified the origin of the land and structures involved in Vietnam’s largest ketamine manufacturing case, recently busted by police.

The syndicate rented two separate plots in Vinh Luong Commune. One of them, located near the northern cemetery, was the primary site for manufacturing over 1.4 tons of pure ketamine.

The land was classified as production forest land without a land use rights certificate. Official cadastral records listed the landholder as UBQL, but in reality, a local woman named H.T.T. had been managing and using the area.

VND 100 million per year for forest land rental

During questioning, Mrs. T. admitted to leasing the land to a man named T.X.V., also a local resident. The lease agreement was facilitated by her husband, Mr. N.X.T., who said the land was rented for aquaculture, particularly raising golden grouper.

The parties agreed to a rental fee of VND 100 million/year (approx. USD 4,000), with a term from November 2023 to November 2024. Despite receiving full payment, the land was initially unused.

By the end of 2024, Mr. V. contacted the couple again to extend the lease under the same terms. At the time, the plot contained only brush and perennial trees, with no structures.

Mr. T. stated they did not inspect the land after handing it over because it was deep in the hills, near a landfill and cremation site, rarely visited by others. The pre-fabricated buildings and steel-frame structures on the site were constructed by the renters without the couple’s knowledge.

They asserted that they had no idea the land was being used for drug manufacturing.

Another location used in the operation was in Cat Loi hamlet, where chemical processing equipment was installed. This property, over 1,200 square meters in size - including 200 square meters of residential land and the rest zoned for perennial crops - is owned by a woman from Ho Chi Minh City.

The structures on this property were originally built before 2003 for bamboo and rattan product manufacturing. The crime group rented it independently to use as a chemical mixing facility.

Local officials in Vinh Luong acknowledged shortcomings in land oversight, which contributed to a major breach in public security. The local government has since convened a review and recommended that utilities not be provided to illegal structures on forest land. They are also tightening oversight in the cemetery and landfill zones.

Earlier, the Drug Crime Investigation Department (C04) under the Ministry of Public Security launched case 199Đ. At dawn on March 22, nearly 200 officers conducted simultaneous raids on three drug production sites in Nha Trang, seizing 1.4 tons of refined ketamine and nearly 80 tons of chemicals.

Authorities arrested 11 suspects, including four Chinese nationals, three from Taiwan (China), and four Vietnamese. The ringleader was identified as Truong Xuan Minh, 51, a Taiwanese national.

Using the front of an ornamental fish business, Minh entered Vietnam in 2021 and partnered with Vietnamese national Doan Van Hung (42) to locate land for drug manufacturing.

The group first rented a 1,000m² plot near Vinh Luong cemetery, then secured an additional 300m² lot 3km away to store chemicals. They split the production process into two phases to avoid detection. After months of surveillance, authorities launched a coordinated raid to dismantle the operation.

Xuan Ngoc